LEADING BOSNIAN CROAT PARTY SAYS HAGUE SENTENCES TOO HIGH

MOSTAR, Jan 15 (Hina) - The leading Bosnian Croat party was "surprised and sorry" to take note of the verdicts of guilty the war crimes tribunal in The Hague gave five Croats from Central Bosnia for ethnic cleansing, assessing the sentences as too strict and believing they can be reduced. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague on Friday acquitted one and sentenced five Bosnian Croats to between six and 25 years in prison for a Muslim massacre in the central Bosnian village of Ahmici in 1993. The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ BH) believes the sentences are too strict in view of the circumstances and everything that took place during the Croat-Muslim conflict in Bosnia, especially since Croats in Central Bosnia "fought to prevent complete biological annihilation," the party said in a statement on Saturday. Consistent in preserving the integrity of the Croat people, the HDZ BH believes the sentences may be reduced, and reaffirms its willingness to care for the children and the families of Croats detained and sentenced in The Hague, the statement concluded. (hina) ha